


Flicker

by Reina1



Series: Flicker [1]
Category: ENHYPEN (Band), I-LAND (Korea TV)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Heehoon - Freeform, Ice Skating, Oneshot, Realistic, Slice of Life, Son Sungdeuk and Adora show up for a minute, Sunghoon is a lil' whipped, platonic but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:21:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26736532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reina1/pseuds/Reina1
Summary: Sunghoon has been breathing in the scent of leather skates and metal blades for his entire life. He’s certain that he’s spent more of his conscious life on ice rather than on land at this point, and that would be all well and good if he truly wanted to continue ice skating.[Sunghoon and Heeseung are just trying to achieve their dream, and find out it’s better to do it together.]
Relationships: Lee Heeseung & Park Sunghoon
Series: Flicker [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972627
Comments: 7
Kudos: 54





	Flicker

**Author's Note:**

> Someone yell at me to work on my college apps instead of writing a whole HeeHoon oneshot TT

Sunghoon has been breathing in the scent of leather skates and metal blades for his entire life. He’s certain that he’s spent more of his conscious life on ice rather than on land at this point, and that would be all well and good if he truly wanted to continue ice skating. 

It’s not that he _doesn’t_ want to continue, it’s just that he’s got another dream in mind and his heart physically aches when he sees others live out what he’ll never get. Being an idol in Korea is _hard_ , and people have been training since they were old enough to get signed to one of the Big Three. He’s only ever had dance lessons that would be useful to his routines, nothing like BTS’s or ATEEZ’s or NCT’s choreography. Sunghoon has no clue why he can’t just be happy with what he’s built in the arena, especially seeing as he’s the best in the city. 

But Sunghoon is resourceful, which is why he’s currently in a practice room, easily paid for months with money that he’s earned from skating competitions. To be fair, it’s also really cheap because it’s not in a great part of the city and he’s in a room where anyone else can rent it alongside him. 

The point is, Sunghoon is determined to figure out his life, and this is the best way he knows how. Doesn’t matter if he’s been in this room for hours now, having skipped skating practice to “study”, nor that he’s drenched in sweat and _still_ hasn’t figured out the choreography to half of Fake Love. He pulls off his hoodie to let his skin breathe, lets out a deep sigh, and gets off the sofa in the corner to make another attempt.

Just as Sunghoon stumbles on the opening beats, the door behind him opens and a lanky boy walks in to see him faceplant on the floor. 

“You okay, bro?” 

“Fantastic, thank you,” Sunghoon groans, peeling himself off the floor. He brushes off his shirt and offers a handshake. The other boy clasps it with a calloused hand and pulls Sunghoon in for a Bro Hug™. 

“I’m Heeseung,” he says, giving a slight smile. 

Sunghoon takes a few seconds to respond, having been blinded momentarily by Heeseung’s smile. His teeth are so white and straight and he’s got these sparkly eyes— “Sunghoon. Nice to meet you.” 

“You can play your music out loud, I’ve got headphones I can use,” Heeseung informs, and moves to the other side of the room. He pulls out a pair, the faux leather of the headpiece peeling off in places and the blue color fading out. 

Sunghoon, just in case, turn the volume down on the studio’s speakers and resumes his practice (miserably, but now with company, which makes it a little better). 

* * *

Sunghoon’s noticed Heeseung looking over quite a few times (that’s why his face is burning red), but when the other finally pulls off his headphones and walks to the other side of the room, Sunghoon is certain he’s about to get swept off his feet in the best and worst ways, because Heeseung is one of the best dancers he’s seen and Sunghoon is the worst.

“Yeah, dude, you’re not the worst but you’ve been struggling on the bridge for like, this whole time, and it hurts my soul a little bit, so I’ll help you out.” Heeseung grabs onto Sunghoon’s arms without fanfare and moves them both through the motions. Sunghoon, obviously, hasn’t retained any of the movements because his brain is one-track and is still stuck on the fact that Heeseung’s hoodie smells like sandalwood and it contrasts with the odor of his sweat in the best way, and now that train of thinking has switched to concern about why Sunghoon _likes_ the smell of this Dudebro he’s just met—

“Sunghoon? You good?” 

“Yeah, sorry.” Sunghoon stops thinking _highly irrelevant_ thoughts and focuses on trying to get the dance right. “Um, maybe it’ll be better if you just do it in front of me and I can watch to see what I’m doing wrong.”

“Sure.” So Heeseung stands in front and to the left of Sunghoon and walks him through the bridge, and Sunghoon is able to understand it much faster than he’s ever learned a song through mirrored YouTube videos at 0.5X speed.

As they take their water break, Sunghoon asks, “How do you know this dance?”

“I’ve been learning all the BTS choreography. ‘m trying to apply to BigHit,” Heeseung answers, and Sunghoon promptly chokes on his water, because _he’s_ trying to apply to BigHit and there’s no way he’ll make it if he’s competing with the likes of Heeseung.

Heeseung starts hitting his back (almost enough to bruise but Sunghoon won’t admit it, he was just trying to _help_ ). “I’m good,” Sunghoon wheezes. 

“I bet all the girls just love that,” Heeseung says dryly. 

Sunghoon forces out a laugh. Haha, yeah, all the girls love Sunghoon for his clueless, naive charm and they fawn over him like he’s Yuri on Ice, but Yuri never fell for girls so—

They both end up on separate sides of the room again, and Sunghoon finds that he’s able to work a lot more efficiently by focusing on not embarrassing himself in front of Heeseung. At the end of the day (when they both get kicked out by the studio owner) Heeseung even says, “You improved so quickly over one day. Super impressive, dude.” 

Sunghoon’s parents ask him why he looks so happy after studying for hours on end when he gets home without being able to erase his smile, and Sunghoon just tells them, “I did something right today.”

* * *

Sunghoon coincidentally finds himself in the same room as Heeseung on the same day (totally not on purpose), except about two hours later because Sunghoon couldn’t blow off ice skating practice today. He stumbles in on half-formed land legs, getting used to the feel of rough, frictional ground again.

Heeseung pulls off his headphones and turns towards Sunghoon with a blinding smile. His damp hair clings to his forehead and his sweatshirt is discarded somewhere off to the side; it’s clear that he’s been here for a while. “Hey, Sunghoon!” 

Sunghoon smiles back and drops his stuff on the sofa. “Hey, Heeseung. How have you been?”

Heeseung frowns, like the question has hurt him somehow, but Sunghoon can’t pull it back from the air between them. 

“Not too hot, actually. That’s why I’m here in the first place.”

“Oh.” Sunghoon is pretty emotionally constipated but he tries to find the right words. “Anything I can do?”

Heeseung shoots him a grin. “Nah. Just you being here is plenty of distraction enough.” Before Sunghoon can even begin to unpack what that means, the other adds, “I can focus on helping you out instead of wallowing in my thoughts the whole time.” 

“And I’d appreciate any help I can get,” Sunghoon responds sheepishly.

They both get to practicing again, Heeseung working on _Move_ by Taemin and Sunghoon working on _Pump It_ by the Black Eyed Peas. 

Strangely enough, when Sunghoon looks over and sees Heeseung struggling with the footwork, he thinks he can _help._ After all, _Move_ is fairly contemporary, and Sunghoon has actually taken classes for that type of dance along with ballet for his skating routines. 

He tentatively moves towards Heeseung and gestures for the other to uncover his ears. “I can help if you’d like,” he offers shyly.

Heeseung raises an eyebrow, but steps backward. Sunghoon plays the song from his phone, connected to the speakers. “You want to focus on having strength in your entire body for this part, but kind of showing the dichotomy between the strength and versatility by moving your feet like Taemin.” He demonstrates, watching himself in the mirror and then watching Heeseung, who picks it up pretty quickly. 

“Yeah, great. Now the key is kind of in this predatory gaze, but like, a predator that’s amused by watching its prey run away but feels too content under the sun to chase after them. Kind of like a feinted stalking.” Sunghoon watches his expression in the mirror, tilting his head up and shifting his eyes to get the gaze just _right_. He glances at Heeseung to see if he’s got it right and maybe stops breathing for a little bit because that stare is so _intense_ it probably cut through his soul. 

It doesn’t last for long, because Heeseung collapses to the floor, laughing. “Dude, you’re so good at, like, words. It’s crazy how quickly I got it after you explained it like that.”

“Park Sunghoon, not good with the ladies but great with the words, at your service,” Sunghoon says with mock bow. Heeseung laughs harders, exposing his hyperstraightened teeth. Sunghoon might have to invest in sunglasses exclusively to wear while he’s here.

* * *

Heeseung keeps coming for the rest of the month—and then he stops for another month. Sunghoon tries not to be upset by that. If Heeseung’s only coming because things aren’t going too well for him, that must mean he’s doing much better. Right?

So Sunghoon continues his dance practices, alone this time, and watches the BigHit open-audition date get closer and closer, and he does his best to learn as many dances as he can and get better at singing. Sunghoon isn’t tone-deaf by a long shot, but he knows he can be louder, clearer.

One Friday night, almost at the end of Sunghoon’s practice, Heeseung stumbles into the room with his laptop precariously balancing on his hand. Sunghoon rushes over to help him with his stuff and Heeseung collapses on the sofa, gesturing for Sunghoon to join him. 

“So I’ve been working on this song for some time and I was wondering...” he looks at Sunghoon uncertainly. It’s the first time Sunghoon’s seen him unconfident. “Did you maybe want to write the lyrics for it? And um. Audition with me?”

Sunghoon stares at him. “Audition... with you?” _With the pinnacle of talent?_

“I mean you’re really great with poetic language and the song is also kind of lyrical and you’re a good dancer, but I totally understand if you wanted to continue on your own—“

“Yeah,” Sunghoon breathes out, not realizing what he’s said until he’s said it. They both seem equally surprised by the decision.

“...yeah?” Heeseung looks at him hopefully. 

“Sure. I mean, you’d be hard-carrying me...”

Heeseung punches Sunghoon’s shoulder lightly. “Don’t even joke about that. You’re talented.” He pulls up his song on the laptop screen and clicks “Play”. 

Sunghoon is immediately entranced, and he starts coming up with a melody for the words. He doesn’t realize he’s humming until they hit the bridge and he notices Heeseung smiling at him softly. 

“That sounds really good,” he says. “Mind if I record you so we both remember it later?”

Sunghoon is super self-conscious but he nods, and Heeseung holds his old Samsung Note to Sunghoon’s face for the rest of the song. “Give me your number so I can send this to you,” he suggests, and just like that, they have each other’s contact info. Sunghoon gapes internally at the fact that Heeseung’s number has seven 7s. How is this man the best of the best down to his digits?

“Awesome. You can text me whenever you come up with lyrics, and we can discuss next week?” 

“Yeah, sure,” Sunghoon answers. _You can text me whenever_...

“Cool.” Heeseung smiles.

Sunghoon smiles back. “Cool.”

* * *

Sunghoon, fueled by an indiscernible need to impress Heeseung, has continuously sent lyrics that pop into his head throughout the week, and at this point he’s written basically three songs’ worth of lyrics. Still, he doesn’t know if they’re adequate, although Heeseung always responds with encouraging remarks. 

Sunghoon is honestly _not_ sure how he’s made these flowery verses as someone who’s barely an adult. Somehow he’s pulled the words from the moments between him and Heeseung down onto paper with the flourish of a pen. 

_We wandered everyday, destined to find each other._

_We overcame countless nights._

_I sent a signal, and I’m waiting for you to notice._

_Connecting in a world out of place, in this flickering moment._

* * *

On Saturday, Heeseung and Sunghoon meet again in the decrepit studio. Heeseung’s eyes are lit up with excitement, and he hurriedly plugs his phone into the speakers so they can hear the guide. “I put together some of your lyrics into a guide. What do you think?”

To be honest, Sunghoon doesn’t _think_ so much as he _feels_ about this song. Heeseung turned his angsty young-adult lyrics into an a work of art, and Sunghoon could listen to this forever, especially with Heeseung’s voice floating through the song.

“That’s honestly one of the best songs I’ve ever heard,” Sunghoon tells him. “I just feel sorry that I’m going to mess it up with my singing and dancing.” 

“Don’t even,” Heeseung says, rolling his eyes. “You’re making the choreography with me, you know that? I was planning on having a kind of chill vibe to it and you seem to be great at that type of stuff.”

Sunghoon preens internally, but nods and pulls Heeseung up. “Let’s get started, then.”

Heeseung stares at him quizzically. “We can’t start yet. You still have to start singing your parts.”

Sunghoon points to the air conditioning in the room. “This is not the best place to record a song, Heeseung.” There’s a continuous buzzing noise in the air.

“You’re right.” Heeseung’s eyes light up. “Hey! You should come over for tonight and we can get it all done today.” 

“Okay,” Sunghoon answers, like he’s not internally panicking at the idea of sleeping over at _Heeseung’s house_.

“Awesome. So do you want to start this dance?” Heeseung plugs in his phone, and they begin creating.

After Sunghoon lets his parents know that he won’t be home, they both walk back, because apparently Heeseung lives like five minutes away because he’s lucky like that.

Sunghoon is quick to remedy that train of thought, though; they arrive at a home in not much better condition than the dance studio, and the shouts of a man can be heard inside. 

“Ah, there he is,” a man says, sneering as the two walk inside. “The prodigal son. Lee Heeseung, my pride and legacy, the man who’s going to make the world a better place by _dancing_ around it.”

“Let’s go to my room,” Heeseung mutters, not acknowledging his father. He grabs Sunghoon’s hand and pulls him out another door that takes them to the outside of the house from the opposite side of the entrance, and they walk to what Sunghoon would fairly call a glorified shed. Heeseung pulls him inside and they sit down on a mattress that, unlike the rest of the property, appears to be really clean. In fact, most of the things in here are clean, despite being clearly lived-in. 

“Sorry for my dad,” Heeseung murmurs, opening up his laptop again. 

“You can’t be sorry for something you can’t control, Heeseung. Don’t worry about it.”

They hunch over the glowing laptop screen in the dim lighting and listen silently to the track once again. “Think you can sing these parts?”

Sunghoon nods, determined.

The next morning, Sunghoon wakes up with Heeseung’s face in his chest and their legs tangled together, and he assumes they fell asleep last night working on the song and also assumes that this is a totally Bro™ thing to do. 

Sunghoon ignores his exploding heart rate to focus on the bigger problem here: the laptop is literally under Heeseung, and Heeseung is close to the edge of the bed, which means that the laptop is in danger of tipping off the side of the mattress. 

Sunghoon reaches for it, trying not to wake Heeseung up, but the increase in pressure on his side makes the other open his eyes. He blearily looks up at Sunghoon, and before he can panic and move away, Sunghoon wraps an arm around Heeseung’s waist to hold him steady. “Your laptop is like, a foot off the bed. Don’t move.”

Sunghoon slowly, slowly wiggles himself closer to Heeseung until he can grab the laptop with his hand, and then they both shoot away from each other like magnets with the same polarity (the irony). 

Sunghoon wonders if he’s imagining the flush on Heeseung’s cheeks or if it’s just the lighting of the room. 

“So, um, you’re welcome for saving your laptop’s life,” Sunghoon says, trying to cut through the awkward atmosphere. Heeseung murmurs a thanks, opening the blinds on the windows. 

It’s then that Sunghoon sees the time on the analog clock and his heart drops. He has to rehearse for an upcoming competition in about 30 minutes—which means he should be on the ice in 15. 

“Thank you so much for having me over but I have an ice skating rehearsal like _right now_ so I have to go I’ll text you bye Heeseung!” Sunghoon says as he gathers his stuff and sprints out of the room.

He leaves a puzzled Heeseung behind him: “You ice skate?”

* * *

After several more practices together, Heeseung and Sunghoon find themselves in the BigHit building in front of the evaluators. And it is terrifying. They all have smiles at the moment, but Sunghoon wonders when those smiles will drop. All have can hope for now is that their effort pays off. 

The opening notes of the song play through the speakers and they begin dancing. Sunghoon and Heeseung dart past each other, synchronize, ad lib... and Sunghoon thinks, _if this, the purest form of coexisting with another person, is unworthy, what_ will _they count as art?_

They catch their breaths after finishing. 

“That was definitely interesting,” Mr. Son says. His eyebrows are furrowed. “Where did you get that choreography?”

“We made it ourselves, sir,” Heeseung answers quietly. _Is it not good enough?_

“And the song?” Ms. Park asks.

Sunghoon replies, “We worked on it on our own. Heeseung made the track, and I made the lyrics.”

“So that’s both of you singing?” Ms. Park questions.

“Yes ma’am,” they both say.

Mr. Son speaks up. “I was... very intrigued. The choreography was a combination of genres, and although I could see how one person did better with the sharper moves and the other did better with the softer moves, you complimented each other well.”

Sunghoon tries not to let his smile show: they’re not in yet, but those _are_ positive remarks...

“I’m pleased with the versatility of both of your voices. Of course you have a long way to go still, but you’re both very talented. Not to mention the excellent songwriting and producing skills between the two of you,” Ms. Park says, her eyebrows raising. “That song is better than some idol-released tracks out there.”

Sunghoon lets himself grin widely, and glance to his left shows Heeseung doing the same. “Thank you.”

Ms. Park smiles. “I suppose it’s no surprise that my answer is yes. Sungdeuk?”

“It would be so fun whipping you both into prime condition,” Mr. Son answers, a gleam in his eye. “Yes.”

Sunghoon and Heeseung bow multiple times to the evaluators and collect their documents with giant smiles. When they leave the building, Heeseung gives Sunghoon a tight hug. “We did it!” He exclaims. His eyes are shining.

“Yes, but...” Sunghoon frowns at the thought of telling his parents. His parents haven’t known for _months_ that he’s been practicing dance. “You should walk with me.” 

“...Okay. Everything good?”

Sunghoon sighs. “You’ll see.”

“That’s a joke, right?” Sunghoon’s father stands in the foyer, having come home after his wife’s urgent call about their son “talking crazy”. 

Sunghoon shakes his head. “Nope. I’ve been practicing on my own, and Heeseung and I just got into BigHit today.” 

His father spares a short glare in Heeseung’s direction, and he shrinks a little bit into the leather chaise he’s sitting on. 

“Sunghoon,” his father begins, thick eyebrows furrowed, “You’re one of the best ice skaters in the _country_. You’re basically guaranteed a spot at a SKY university because of company connections. And you want to throw it all away to _maybe_ debut? And even then, you don’t know how successful you’ll be.” 

“Not to mention,” his mother continues with a frown, “We don’t know what types of power plays happen in that industry. Who knows what you’ll have to put up with?”

Sunghoon really, _really_ appreciates his parents’ concern. But he knows, at the very least, that he _has_ to try to become an idol, because if he doesn’t, he’ll never really be happy on the ice knowing what could have been, even if he’s carrying Olympic gold medals and comes home to a plethora of degrees in subjects he doesn’t care for. 

“I _need_ to try. I’ve made it past the first step without your support, and I want to become strong enough to climb up the others, too. And if I fall while I’m doing that... I’ll just pick myself up and keep moving. I’d rather do that than stay trapped, stagnant, in the dreams that you’ve had for me that I’ve never envisioned myself.”

One of the housekeepers exits the elevator and hands Heeseung the hot chocolate Sunghoon asked for him, and he sips at it tentatively, watching the confrontation with wide eyes. Sunghoon tries not to giggle at the milk mustache Heeseung now has. _Be serious._

Probably as a last resort, Sunghoon’s father says, “We’ll cut you off. No pocket money, no allowances.”

Sunghoon crosses his arms and raises one eyebrow. “Okay?”

“You need that money, Sunghoon.”

“No, I don’t. I need to be able to pursue what I want, and if making my own money goes along with that, then I’ll do it.”

His father gapes at him, then has some sort of nonverbal communication with his mother. She nods, resigned. “If you can’t be persuaded otherwise... I’m really glad that you at least proved yourself in chasing your dream.”

“BigHit... I suppose, is one of the better companies. If you’re into the whole idol thing.” His father gives in, too. 

It takes Sunghoon a moment to process that. “Wait... you’re serious?”

“Yes, Sunghoon,” his mom answers. She smiles softly. “If you’ve dreamt of a beautiful future, we won’t stop you from seeking it out.”

“Although if there’s _any_ strange, underhanded business going on at BigHit that we hear about, we’re making you quit right then.”

“Deal.” Sunghoon gives both of his parents a hug and pretends he doesn’t see the tears falling from their faces... and maybe his own, too. 

“You didn’t tell me you were rich,” Heeseung mutters, his hands shoved into his pockets. He’s perched on the edge of Sunghoon’s bed, with its mahogany frame and specially-commissioned mattress for Sunghoon’s muscle aches after skating. 

For the first time since they’ve met, Heeseung looks unsure of himself. Sunghoon kneels down and gives a reassuring smile at Heeseung, his heart aching a little bit: Heeseung deserves so much more than what he’s put up with for years. At least now Sunghoon will be there to ensure that he _gets_ that much more. 

“It’s not important,” Sunghoon says brightly. “We’re equal—now we’re both just BigHit trainees trying to debut and stand on a stage, right?”

Heeseung gives him a blinding smile. Sunghoon isn’t great with being cheesy for long periods of time, so he launches himself upward and onto Heeseung instead, flattening the other on the bed.“ _Oof._ ”

“BigHit should feel lucky that they’re getting a producer who can, _quote_ , make better music than most idols,” he teases.

“That’s not what she said,” Heeseung groans out. “And get off me, you giant.”

Sunghoon just flops around a little more and Heeseung resigns himself to his fate. 

_This is enough_ , Sunghoon thinks. _At least for now, I’m happy._

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a little fanfic about Heeseung and Sunghoon, just trying to realize their dreams. It’s also, alternatively, a “Try not to ship them while writing a story” challenge, one which I’ve almost flat-out failed while holding onto the fringes of success. I just didn’t feel comfortable making it an actual romance story because Enhypen hasn’t even debuted yet, not to mention that Heeseung and Sunghoon are pretty young... although they’re older than me, so...
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed! I might continue this story (and the ship ‘_’ ) if a lot of people want me to, not sure yet. Let me know what you thought in the comments, because I’d love to hear what readers make of this!


End file.
